Ian Roberts (South African actor)

Roberts was born in Fort Beaufort in the Eastern Cape Province and grew up on his father's citrus farm near the town. He attended St. Andrew's Preparatory School and St. Andrew's College in Grahamstown. After completing high school he performed his compulsory national service in the South African Army, which he completed in 1971.

After a variety of different jobs and a course in photography at the Port Elizabeth Technical College from 1973 to 1975, Roberts enrolled at Rhodes University in 1976 for a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in Speech, Drama and Social Anthropology.

Roberts became a South African icon when he played the character of Boet in a long-running series of television advertisements for Castrol motor oil.[1]^:4 This character (together with the other characters Swaer and Moegoe) has also been featured in M-Net's comedy series Kalahari Oasis as well as in his Radio Kalahari Orkes band.[1]^:4

In the Oscar-winning South African film, Tsotsi,[1]^:4 Roberts played the role of a police captain.

He was married to South African actress Michelle Botes, but the couple divorced in 1999. They had two children.

In addition to the above, Roberts has played the leading role in Afrikaans language television series such as Sloet Steenkamp in Arende ("Eagles") and Jack Degenaar in Arsenaal ("Arsenal"), as well as a supporting role in Kwelaman (1986). He has also written a number of scripts, such as Honeytown 1 and the musical Palang van Dwaal ("Palang from Dwaal").

• Ian Roberts at IMDb
• Crawford College, Sandton official site